


The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Set in Storybrooke, Canon Divergent [17]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, this is mostly regal believer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:37:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: Regina asks Henry how he’d feel if Robin and Roland moved in with them





	The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Regina knocks softly on Henry’s open bedroom door, smiling when he turns to face her. “Can I bother you for a second?”

“You’re not bothering me,” he says with a groan as he drops his pencil down on his desk. “I’m doing algebra homework. I’ll take any distraction I can get.”

Regina smirks as she comes into his room and sits on the foot of his bed, “Well, I’m glad I rank above algebra.” She looks at him for a moment—at fourteen years old he’s nearly as tall as her and he looks so grown up, no longer the little boy who would reach for her hand as they crossed the street and fall asleep on her lap as she read to him.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about…ask you, actually.”

Henry spins his chair to face her, “What’s up?”

Taking a breath, she nods. “I was wondering how you’d feel if I….asked Robin to move in with us. Would that be okay with you?”

She watches a coy grin form on Henry’s face, “He doesn’t already live here?”

Regina laughs out.

It’s a fair question. Since returning from New York Robin and Roland have spent a great deal of time at the house with her and Henry. At first, they took things slowly—getting reacquainted with one another, working through everything that happened in the months of Zelena’s deception, and working together to bring Emma back from the dark side. In some ways, he’s been the old-fashioned type, courting her with moonlit walks and lunch dates, and offering unwavering support and an empathetic ear throughout the chaos. But now, more times than not, Robin and Roland are there for dinner and more times than not, Robin is making them all breakfast in the kitchen when Henry wakes up for school in the morning.

But it’s not official. For the past few weeks she’s felt like she had one foot it and one foot—committed, but not completely. There’s a small part of her who fears diving into that sort of complete commitment, a part of her that fears it’ll be ripped away from her, and a part of her that wonders if, after everything, she’d be able to survive it. Not to mention that change has never been something that came easily.

“Mom, why wouldn’t it be okay with me?”

“Well…it was just you and me for so long, and things have just gotten back to normal between us. Things are…good. I don’t want to lose that.”

For her, it’s such an understatement. There are times when she wakes in the middle of the night and finds herself peeking into Henry’s bedroom to reassure herself that he’s really there, that he’s really still hers. Losing him was slow and gradual, a wound that just kept deepening no matter what she did to mend it. Losing Henry was the single hardest thing she’d ever experienced…and winning back his love was her greatest triumph.

“Things are good,” Henry agrees with a nod. “And they’ll still be good with Robin and Roland here.”

“It’ll be different.”

“Different doesn’t mean bad.” Henry shrugs his shoulders, “He makes you happy. You deserve to be happy.”

Leaning forward, Regina touches her hand to Henry’s knee, “You make me happy. And you come first. This is your house, too; and, you should be comfortable here. So….”

“Mom,” Henry interjects. “I like Robin. A lot. I wasn’t sure for awhile there, but he’s a good guy and he’s good for you.” He grins. “And he’s teaching me all sorts of cool stuff like how to shoot a bow and arrow and…”

Her brow furrows with worry, “I didn’t know that.”

At that, Henry smiles and reaching out, he pats her hand. “The point is…I know you love me, Mom. But I shouldn’t be the only person around you who makes you happy. That’s not fair to you and that’s not why you worked so hard to find your happy ending. And now that you’ve found it, you should get to enjoy it.”

Pulling back her hand, she tucks her hair behind her ears and grins, “You know, it wouldn’t just be Robin moving in with us. Roland would be here too, and pretty soon, there will be a baby. That’s a lot to adjust to.”

 “Hanging out with Roland is actually kind of fun. Getting to be a big brother is pretty awesome.” Henry pauses for a moment. “When it was just the two of us, that was really great. But it being the four of us has been pretty great, too; and, I’m sure that when it’s the five of us, that’ll be even better.” Regina can’t help the smile that stretches across her lips.  “You told me once that one day, I was going to have more family then I knew what to do with…”

“This isn’t exactly what I meant by that,” she says with a soft laugh.

“I know. Maybe you didn’t mean it that way then, but maybe, deep down, this is what you really meant…that we’d have a bigger family one day.”

Her eyebrow arches and she smirks. “A premonition?”

“Hey, stranger things have happened around here.”

Regina’s eyes narrow. “When did you get to be so thoughtful and wise?”

Henry grins, “My mother raised me well.”

At that, she smiles and takes a breath, looking away as she swallows the lump that has formed at the back of her throat, telling herself that a fourteen year old boy as no interest in watching his mother get weepy and sentimental— but, Henry will never know how much hearing that means to her.

“I have an idea…” She looks back to him. “How about you put that away for tonight—I’ll help you with it tomorrow. I’ll go downstairs and freeze the pasta sauce I made and order a pizza, and you can pick the movie.”

She watches as a grin stretches across Henry’s face—this used to being their ‘thing.’ “Mom, a movie? As in one? Do you know how many Marvel movies have been made in the last few years? I think we’re in for a marathon.”

Regina nods as she grins at Henry—she does know. She’s kept count; though, for a long time, she doubted they’d ever have one of their infamous movie nights again. Her grin widens as she realizes how far they’ve come, yet how easy it’s been to slip back into old, comfortable routines. “So extra breadsticks are a must, then.”

“And don’t forget the root beer.”

She stands and nods, acknowledging his request. “Think they’ll deliver vanilla ice cream so we can make floats?”

“It’s definitely worth asking,” Henry says in a serious tone, as she walks out of the room.

Looking back over her shoulder, she smiles at Henry who is already scrolling through a list of movies. Despite everything—despite their separation and the long road back, despite all of the changes that have taken place in their lives over the past couple of years—there are some things that will never change.


End file.
